Wife of Indian man killed in possible hate crime shooting in Kansas says her husband ‘did not deserve a death like this’

The wife of an Indian man killed in a possible hate crime shooting in Kansas spoke out today, describing her husband as a hardworking man who loved America and “did not deserve a death like this.”

Sunayana Dumala said her husband, shooting victim Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, arrived in the U.S. from India in 2005 to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Dumala said not long after that, she and her husband moved to Kansas and “made Olathe their home,” and Kuchibhotla continued to “succeed” in the aviation industry, which he was passionate about.

On the night of shooting, Kuchibhotla was just doing “the same thing” he always does — enjoying a glass of beer to get rid of his “work stress” and have a “fun time with his friend,” Dumala said, speaking at a news conference.

According to Dumala, Kuchibhotla and his friends were “minding their own business” when a man began harassing them over their race. The managers of the bar kicked the man out, but he came back, Dumala said.

“He has taken a life — a very lovable soul — from everyone,” Dumala said.

The couple’s families are “in grief,” she said, noting that her husband would have turned 33 on March 9.

Dumala said she had expressed concerns with her husband about shootings in the U.S. and wondered if they should stay in the country.

When she expressed those concerns, she said he would he would tell her, “Good things happen in America.”